“Miss Celie takes a lot out of me. I’m being told everyday that I’m ugly. … you can’t play the part if you don’t kind of put yourself in her shoes and live her life. So it’s like, I carry that stuff with me. I put myself in her shoes in having (daughter) Zion at such a young age and dropping out of school and being in just bad relationships and disrespected. I just feel like God won’t put too much on me than I can bear. As long as I feel like I’m touching somebody … as long as I’m blessing somebody, I know that I’ll be blessed.”
{Source}

Pretty deep. I’m still hoping to see Fantasia in the show one day – the reviews of her performance have been phenomenal. More power to her.

NEW YORK — Kanye West considers a certain “SexyBack” singer his biggest rival.

“My biggest inspiration and biggest competition is Justin Timberlake,” the 29-year-old rapper tells XXL magazine in its October issue, on newsstands Sept. 11. “He’s the only other person that gets an across-the-board response and respect level — black radio, white radio.”

“If Justin hadn’t come out and killed the game, I can’t say that my album, singles and videos would be on the same level that they’re on,” he says. “We push each other. I look at me and Justin like Prince and Michael Jackson in their day.” {Source}

How do you feel about criticism from the hip-hop community that you’ve gone Hollywood?
I want somebody to give me an actual definition of “Hollywood.” Hollywood always has this negative connotation attached to it. Yeah, I went and did a show in Hollywood [UPN’s Eve], so if that means me going Hollywood—yeah. As far as the negative connotations, I would hope they are not saying it in that way, and if they are, everyone’s entitled to their opinion. I don’t think I have.

Do you get approached a lot by women?
Yeah, I used to more when I first came out. I’ve had people tell me straight up and down that I was gay—I still get it from people. I get more accusations than I actually do get hit on now.

Did it make you uncomfortable?
Gay women are way more aggressive than men—I will definitely say that. [Laughs] But it doesn’t bother me. I’ve never been disrespected in any way. If I’m like, “Yo, I get it, but I don’t swing that way,” then it’s all love.

Why doesn’t the hip-hop community want gay support?
Trust me, I’ve heard of and know of some instances of people in the industry who are gay or who have participated in certain situations. It’s a male-dominated industry, and for some reason they just don’t want to talk about it. I don’t understand why—I guess it’s a macho thing. It’s ridiculous to me. Me, I love it. The more support for me, the better!